How To Cold Email Investors

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How To Cold Email Investors - Michael Seibel

Рет қаралды 104,350

Күн бұрын

Y Combinator CEO and Partner Michael Seibel on how to cold email investors.
/ mwseibel
Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.
Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: www.ycombinato...
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Topics
00:00 - Intro
00:17 - Make it short, i.e. 60 seconds or less to read
00:58 - Interested in: the problem you're trying to solve, what your solution is, have you launched, do you have growth, how big you think the market could be, do you have cofounders, are you technical, and do you know something about the problem that you think is controversial.
1:38 - Not interested in: a long history of how you came up with the idea or jargon (see: customer pitch vs investor pitch - • How Pitching Investors... )
2:17 - Send your email from a company email address with your name in it
3:05 - Decks aren't required but use a common format if including one
4:02 - Track opens
4:14 - Don't make it long
5:27 - Don't immediately request an in-person meeting
6:04 - Don't send multiple follow-ups quickly
6:26 - Don't forget to describe what your company does

Пікірлер: 59

@ycombinator 4 жыл бұрын

Topics 00:00 - Intro 00:17 - Make it short, i.e. 60 seconds or less to read 00:58 - Interested in: the problem you're trying to solve, what your solution is, have you launched, do you have growth, how big you think the market could be, do you have cofounders, are you technical, and do you know something about the problem that you think is controversial. 1:38 - Not interested in: a long history of how you came up with the idea or jargon (see: customer pitch vs investor pitch - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/preegqV5s7HQl6c.html) 2:17 - Send your email from a company email address with your name in it 3:05 - Decks aren't required but use a common format if including one 4:02 - Track opens 4:14 - Don't make it long 5:27 - Don't immediately request an in-person meeting 6:04 - Don't send multiple follow-ups quickly 6:26 - Don't forget to describe what your company does

@Powaup 4 жыл бұрын

Aiming to keep the email under 500 characters helps make the intro 15 secs or less

@blakemccorkle18 4 жыл бұрын

Did anyone else notice that whoever uploaded this video (presumably Michael) also included in the description, the timestamps for every element/topic discussed? That level of respect for others' time is something that might make the difference between "delete" and that second glance you need.

@danielm3977 3 жыл бұрын

Is it just me?, having this feeling, Micheal sounds very compassionate person, who you can talk with about your problems and feel at ease.

@viktorxhelilaj3087 4 жыл бұрын

Got my first follow-up from an investment firm using this method!

@onelucian 3 ай бұрын

nice

@AdeelKhan1 4 жыл бұрын

YC content is so good. Amazing how much useful advice is packed into a 8 minute video. Thank you Michael Seibel!

@mustafakhundmiri1675 4 жыл бұрын

Use these tips to cold email anyone (ex: potential co-founders), not just investors.

@myprideable 4 жыл бұрын

Please continue having Michael making those videos, he gives great advises! I also love the break down of topics in the description.

@snookandrew 4 жыл бұрын

Michael has a great way of communicating something.

@travispercy 4 жыл бұрын

So true! Started a channel about generosity in online entrepreneurship. Releasing more content on mastering email markering from lessons learned at Harvard & from other experts. Feel free to check us out and join the conversation if you can. Best, Trav

@yellowsnh 4 жыл бұрын

So crystal, valuable and short! Thanks, Michael

@amywang5034 4 жыл бұрын

Like the subtle nuances being considered. Simple straight facts and good consideration for investor leeway to response with exchange... Pretty much a strong fundamental steps to building great exchanges for good things!!... Love the advice!!

@liorneuman2198 2 жыл бұрын

I always learn somenthing useful from Micheal. Thank you YC for sharing your knowledge & experience

@viktorxhelilaj3087 4 жыл бұрын

Probably the most useful video so far

@mylovelyvillageblogs4287 3 ай бұрын

Michael nails it again on cold emailing. You know what took my campaigns to the next level? Mystrika. Comprehensive analytics, custom tracking, and that unified inbox? Game over. Cold emailing is not the same without it.

@globalana8951 3 ай бұрын

Great advise

@johannesseikowsky8197 4 жыл бұрын

Is there a version of this for cold-emailing potential customers? I suppose in some ways it's probably similar ... Would be interesting to hear the differences ...

@shravandeewana2055 3 ай бұрын

This channel keeps delivering! But if you want to elevate your cold emailing game, Mystrika is the way to go. The new interface and the pay once, use forever deal is unbeatable. Outbounding lead gen will feel incomplete without Mystrika.

@GirlFightTalk 4 жыл бұрын

Great advice! They don't teach this stuff in college.

@sharpendesign6604 4 жыл бұрын

They don't teach anything in college tbh, there's a reason people that are the most known and successful are those who didn't put a foot in college or those who dropped out of it pretty fast. You learn a LOT more from actually working in the field you wanna work in than spending 3-5 years "studying" it... Time waste

@novapowell6976 3 жыл бұрын

They teach you 25 behavioural theories and 125 economic theories... And charge a ton for that!

@alisyed8630 3 жыл бұрын

Very useful points. We are bootstrapping so have bought only 1 email address support@.. Just pointing out our side in relation to the email part. :)

@hassengaddes1847 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you, IT s very helpfull! To understand the needs and how to proceed in good way. Many thank you to share this type of informations!

@Khalcooking 4 жыл бұрын

I want investors to come behind entrepreneurs. Like how bankers run behind prospects asking them to take a loan. Just take a quote from lending tree You will get 25 calls in an hour with bankers begging you to take their money. These guys profit from all the hard work entrepreneurs do. Why should we run behind them. They should beg us to take their money.

@finbarmostyn-williams8713 3 жыл бұрын

Really useful advice - thank you

@cjfontaine9206 4 жыл бұрын

Do you have any suggestions for the subject line of the email? I often struggle with figuring out a good subject that would actually draw attention (as I assume the people I want to email get A LOT of emails from people like me).

@AdeelKhan1 4 жыл бұрын

You should research your audience. You should mimic their behaviours and you should use language that is going to resonate with them. You should also only reach out to someone if their values are in alignment with your values. It doesn't have to be an exact match, but there should be some higher percentage involved. If you are struggling with coming up with a subject line, then this means that you do not know much about your audience. Doing more work upfront may yield an outcome that is favourable for you and the investor. As the relationship develops over a period of time, you get to learn from them and they also get to learn from you.

@avinash-dhumal 4 жыл бұрын

I think you have to show some emails, which helps a founder get investors to email back.

@travispercy 4 жыл бұрын

Good question. Started a channel about generosity in online entrepreneurship. Releasing more content on mastering email markering from lessons learned at Harvard & from other experts. Feel free to check us out and join the conversation if you can. Best, Trav

@regiirecords8829 4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant. Thank you. ✨

@michaelforrest2202 4 жыл бұрын

What is a good tool for setting up read receipts? Is there any that notifys automatically, without the recipient having to ok the read receipt being sent (friction)?

@ahsanmohammed1 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent! Thank you so much! I have a niche market product need discovered. Just US market size is likely in the $tens of billions. I’m in the idea stage. I don’t have a co founder, I don’t know how to code. I’m in Toronto. I cannot travel. I am negative tens of thousands in net-worth/cash. 🙄🙂

@hmmm....1910 2 жыл бұрын

Any progress?

@jodysterling2570 4 жыл бұрын

Great info thank you

@johnathanchen3943 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome video!

@dnice033 Жыл бұрын

How do you track open rates? Who uses mail chimp to email angels?

@randym1788 3 жыл бұрын

So In the first email if I’m not requesting investment or in person meeting, what do I ask for in the email? Just ask if they find the idea interesting?

@cgw123 4 жыл бұрын

Really need some text on screen to move this along better.

@merlepatterson 4 жыл бұрын

Is it me or do Venture Capitalists usually tend to fund start ups which like to take advantage of user base data as a commodity? Where are all the actual product start ups which build physical products that aren't built with the intention to to take advantage of ( or disadvantage) a user base?

@graedrake1067 4 жыл бұрын

Where's the line between sending too many followups too quickly, vs appropriate & consistent followup?

@HouseFromSmartCity 4 жыл бұрын

Having set well over a 1000 meetings with C level executives over the past decade working in biz dev, i relied heavily on cold emails and calling for new clients. I found that 2-2-3-3-4-5 was a nice cadence that walked the line between persistence and being annoying (those numbers are amount of days id let go by before reaching out again). I’d usually at least get a response. Hope that helps. give it a shot

@travispercy 4 жыл бұрын